Cross Cultural Music, Song & Dance on the banks of the Bann.
Mary Dillon
Mary Dillon’s debut solo album, ‘North’, is one of the most eagerly anticipated folk albums of the year. A former member of Irish band Déanta in the 1990s, the Co. Derry singer from Dungiven has been absent from the music scene for over a decade but returns in 2013 with a renewed energy to showcase a diverse collection of folk songs from the Ulster singing tradition. Having spent the past fifteen years raising a family, occasionally stepping into the studio to lend guest vocals to some of her friends’ projects, Mary is ready to rejoin her internationally acclaimed sister Cara as one of the torch bearers of Irish traditional singing. Twice winner of the All-Ireland Singing trophy by her mid-teens, Mary came from a background immersed in Irish traditional music. She has been receiving fabulous reviews in response to her album and the Irish Music Magazine commended her by saying, "Northis a warm, beautifully crafted and inviting album with Mary Dillon at her absolute zenith”
Mary will be joined on stage by two fantastic musicians, Neil Martin and Paul McSherry.
Belfast born composer Neil Martin is a cellist and an uilleann piper and was encouraged to play both traditional and classical music from an early age. Neil has enjoyed a most varied and rewarding career that has included composition, performance and production. Major commissions include ‘OSSA’, a choral symphony to mark the 400th anniversary of The Flight of the Earls and ‘No Tongue Can Tell’, a concerto for uilleann pipes and symphony orchestra. More recently Neil composed ‘The Great and First Object’ to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the Linenhall Library. Composition for television, film and radio includes various short dramas, television series for children, award-winning documentaries and series for BBC, C4 and RTE as well as many radio dramas. Neil has also composed and directed music extensively for theatre. This is just a brief insight into Neils’ musical career as it would be impossible to adequately convey his achievements in this short space!
Paul is a member of the famous McSherry family from Belfast and has been credited with re-inventing Irish music on the guitar. Currently a member of the band, ‘Guidewires’ he is also a founding member of ‘Tamalin’ and ‘Grianan’. Paul has recorded and played with ‘Déanta’, ‘Cara Dillon’, ‘Niamh Parsons’, ‘Cormac Breathnach’, ‘Liam O Flynn’, ‘Dónal Lunny’ and ‘At First Light’ as well as many others. His imagination with creating chords as well as having one of the best rhythmic guitar hands in Irish music have firmly established Paul as one of the all-time greats!
